Tuesday the 5th

The rain kept the field down to about 20 or so guys tonight. But it seemed everyone was happy to be out on their bikes. Right off the bat, turning off route 10, Chris B from CCR came straight out and set a really stiff pace. Dillon P, Hunter P and Eric M were on him and the ride got rolling long. Chris soon turned over the reins to Rondo and Mike McG. The small crowd out tonight meant that it was going to be a spirited ride. No hiding today….

The front of the ride onto Mountain Rd. was controlled by the Medics, a Devils Gear rider, and Julio L. Midway thru Mountain Rd, there was a nice rotating group of 7 or so, ready to share the work load.

The field met up with Tall John and Chris C at the light on route 68. Onto Moss farms, Rondo early on kept up the pace and then turned it over a Devils Gear rider ( Ben ?) and a couple others. All in all, everyone was together for most of Moss Farms. Tall John found a chance to sneak off the front before the chicane and we went into chase mode. Mike McG was up there making sure everyone paid attention. Traffic turning onto Jarvis St slowed things down a little and that meant that everyone was together for the climb up to Marion Ave. Mike McG, Hunter P, Todd H and Eric M drove the pace up and past the corner, but no one was willing to attack and so it stayed all a bunch into the industrial park. In the industrial park, there were a few guys doing most of the work. Tall John and the Medics were up there predominately. Turning onto West Johnson, Eric M flatted and a couple guys held back to wait for him. Mike, Ron, Chris C and a couple of others. The group that forged ahead was down to about 12-14, and they slowly ramped up the pace again toward reinhart. Chris B came again up to the front and was setting a really hard pace thru the peck lane intersection and up the hill before the turn onto Reinhard. He actually just rode off the front in pursuit of the sprint. Behind him the rest of the group was sorting things out Julio L was looking to get a good position. Tall John was at the front of the chase. John Gregory was up there too. Hunter P jumped from the back of the group, and set out to gun down Chris, who by this time had a solid 50-60 yard gap going on the field. Hunter P, with Julio L on board, needed the whole length of the road to close the gap, but ended up coming around Chris with 40 yards or so left before the Schoolhouse corner. Down the backside Tall John jumped hard into TT mode and Chris B tried to follow him. But by the turn onto Peck, it was all pretty much together.

Meanwhile, behind, as Eric was changing his tire, Chris C had gotten taken out by an inattentive rider while he was making a U turn back to Eric. 2 guys went down hard. Chris C was deemed ok, his new bike was not too badly damaged. He limped back to his car at Stop n Shop. The other rider (?) was a little worse off, and needed to wait for a car ride pick up. Mike and Rondo waited with him. Chris C says don’t ride your new bike in the rain, only bad things happen.

Up ahead, the front of the ride was turning a nice gear past Cheshire Park. Todd H and Tall John were setting a good tempo. A couple of lights slowed things down but heading up to Stop n Shop, Chris B was again at it, trying to ride off the front. This time he had a couple of guys with him. A devils gear rider ( who had taken a shortcut to be up front ) and BlingBling Maison. Chris was on his way to collecting the stop n shop prize when the light turned red, so everyone sat up. But Chris had it in the bag.

A couple of riders turned off in Cheshire, which meant that there were less guys to drill it back home. Tall John again tried to sneak off the front, but was marked this time. Todd H was up there, Julio L, Elder Foley, and Entry level Chris ( on a Scott ) was up there too. John Gregory took everyone into the final 200 meters, along with Tall John, but there was no duking it out to the bitter end this day.

A good ride, had it not been for the unknown accidents and incidents. Lets hope for better skies and better fortune next week.